A TEENAGER thought her mum had been “killed in front of her eyes” when an ambulance driver ploughed into her car.

Caron Lake, 49, was picking up daughter Erin, 17, from work at Kirkleatham Museum, near Redcar, when she was struck by an ambulance car in a collision which left her “inches from death”. Now the mum has won a payout from the trust which owned the ambulance responsible for the smash.

North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) Trust paid out £18,500 after Middlesbrough County Court heard experienced ambulance driver Colin Hayden made a number of “wrong assumptions” that led to the accident.

Pankaj Madan, representing Caron, said Mr Hayden, who is now retired, wrongly assumed Caron was going to pull in to the left to allow him to pass, despite the fact she had no time to see him and was indicating right.

He added Caron indicated in sufficient time as she rounded the bend in her red Nissan Micra, but Mr Hayden admitted to witnesses after the accident he had misinterpreted her right signal assuming she would pull to the left.

In court, Mr Hayden, who had been driving a Ford Mondeo ambulance car, denied the admission at the accident scene.

Describing the ambulance driver as “undoubtedly negligent”, Mr Madan also recalled Mr Hayden’s admission that he wrongly assumed that because the museum was closed, Caron would not turn into it.

Deputy District Judge Glenday agreed Mr Hayden was 100% to blame for the accident, and awarded Caron £6,000, with £12,500 court costs also payable by North East Ambulance service (NEAS).

Speaking after her case, Caron, a law student of Kirkleatham, said: “It was probably more frightening for my daughter, because she witnessed it from start to finish.

“She was a wreck. She thought she had seen her mum get killed in front of her eyes. She saw it all happen as if it was in slow motion.”

As Caron began to turn into the museum, her daughter was waiting outside and watched in horror as Mr Hayden, who was 10 hours into a 12-hour shift, ploughed into her car at 50 to 55 miles per hour.

Mr Hayden had set off in the same direction as Caron near Kirkleatham Church, but smashed into her as he attempted to overtake her on the single lane carriageway.

Caron suffered back injuries and severe anxiety, with the sound or sight of emergency vehicles on the roads still haunting her.

However, she believes she is lucky to be alive after the smash, on March 6 last year.

She said: “The car hit mine inches from the driver’s door and all the front of the car was wiped out and was halfway down the road. If it had hit me, there’s no way I would have survived that at more than 50 miles per hour.”

Mr Madan said Mr Hayden had positioned himself in Caron’s blind-spot on the road to overtake.

Although his blue lights were flashing and he recalled putting the siren on as he set off, Mr Hayden said he couldn’t be sure the siren was still on as he approached Caron, as he admitted he would sometimes turn it off if the roads were quiet - because it was so loud.

Mr Madan said Mr Hayden’s speed, being in her blind-spot, and the fact the museum is situated just beyond a right-hand bend meant Caron was given just a couple of seconds at most to see the ambulance car and react.

Caron said: “Seeing the car with its blue lights smashing into the side of my car was the first time I saw him.

“Erin still works at the museum, and whenever I pull in at that junction, it brings it back to me.

“To this day, when I hear a siren or see blue lights my heart races.”

A spokeswoman for North East Ambulance Service said: “We have liaised with our motor insurers and other relevant agencies in preparing this case.”

She said: “We will review the full judgment from the court and implement any recommendations that arise as a result of this unfortunate incident.”